2 Chronicles 9:13

Solomon’s Wealth

9:13 Solomon received 666 talents ¹  of gold per year, ² 

2 Chronicles 11:21

11:21 Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than his other wives and concubines. ³  He had eighteen wives and sixty concubines; he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

[9:13]  ¹ tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the weight of the gold Solomon received annually was 44,822 lbs. (20,380 kg).

[9:13]  ² tn Heb “the weight of the gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 units of gold.”

[11:21]  ³ sn Concubines were slave women in ancient Near Eastern societies who were the legal property of their master, but who could have legitimate sexual relations with their master. A concubine’s status was more elevated than a mere servant, but she was not free and did not have the legal rights of a free wife. The children of a concubine could, in some instances, become equal heirs with the children of the free wife. After the period of the Judges concubines may have become more of a royal prerogative (2 Sam 21:10-14; 1 Kgs 11:3).